Masterclass with Debbie Diamond, baroque violin

Early Music Princeton

Event Info

A public masterclass by baroque violinist Debbie Diamond, presented by Early Music Princeton.

About the Artist:

Debbie Diamond is a professional violinist, specialising in Baroque historical performance. She is also adept at virtually all styles of music, ranging from klezmer and Irish fiddle playing right through to Classical and Romantic repertoire, and her own original compositions. Debbie was born in Toronto, Canada, but made several cross-Atlantic journeys. Her first crossing was to Israel to study at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, after which she returned to Toronto to finish her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto. Upon completing a Masters Degree in Historical Performance (also in Toronto), she journeyed south to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, for two years of Doctoral Studies in Early Music Performance at their Early Music Institute. The ocean beckoned yet again, and Debbie moved to Israel to lead the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra and to join the Jerusalem Consort. Once there, she also joined Black Velvet, an Israeli Irish band, and performed with Black Velvet up and down the country, discovering the merits of pub performances and folk festivals. She was also founder, leader and artistic director of the chamber group Ensemble Nuance as well as Barock ‘n’ Roll, a chamber group specialising in the fusion of baroque and rock music.

After several years, Debbie decided to settle with crossing the Mediterranean and English Channel (but not the Atlantic) and settled in London. Debbie has been a regular member of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment since 1999, and has worked for eminent conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Mark Elder, Vladimir Jurowski, Ivan Fischer, Sir Roger Norrington, Franz Bruggen and Masaaki Suzuki. She has performed regularly with the English Baroque Soloists, L’Orchestre Romantique et Revolutionnaire (both conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner), Gabrieli Consort, Florilegium, and The Sixteen. Debbie has appeared as soloist with Fiori Musicali, Ensemble Sonnerie, and the Sweelinck Ensemble. She has performed as guest violinist with the chamber group Red Priest. Her playing has been described as “...intense...graceful...”, “...passionate and full of energy”, “one who has the ability to rise to the occasion in a public performance in a special and dramatically persuasive way...”. As a soloist, she has given recitals in Canada, the United States, Israel, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

In addition to concertising, Debbie has always made teaching a priority. Currently Debbie teaches at the Junior Academy (Royal Academy of Music) where she leads and coaches the Classical Orchestra, coaches Baroque chamber music, and teaches individual lessons. In addition, she is a music consultant for MiSST (Music in Secondary Schools Trust), a program that provides whole class instrumental tuition, and individual and paired lessons privately at primary school level. Debbie also teaches individual and group lessons in schools and privately, and is a director and conductor for school orchestras. As she is extremely knowledgeable about performance practice (Baroque and Classical performance), Debbie also gives masterclasses and lectures, and has run a course titled 'Baroque Music on Modern Instruments' at City Lit, Covent Garden.